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Five natural wonders in Northern Norway

(c) Beate Juliussen/www.nordnorge.com

(c) Helgeland Reiseliv

The landscape of Northern Norway is a mixture of divine inspiration and humour. There is something new around every bend (and we have quite a few in Northern Norway), including five of the most famous landmarks in the country.

1. Saltstraumen is the strongest tidal current in the world, with four shows daily of foaming water and whirlpools, when 400 million cubic metres of water are forced through a 150-m (500-ft) strait. Check the tide table, find a spot on the rocks and watch for yourself.

2. The North Cape is the most remote outpost of Northern Europe, 307 m (1007 ft.) above the Arctic Ocean. A definite contender for World’s End, from the edge you look out into... nothing. This is a place to tick off anyone’s must-see list.

3. Torghatten is a mountain pierced by a hole. A relatively short and easy hike takes you up to the hole, and you can look out over the archipelago south to Trøndelag or north to the fairytale coast of Helgeland.

4. Sautso, also known as Alta Canyon, is a 3–400 m (1000–1300 ft) deep, 10 km (6 mile) long gorge on the Alta River. Accessible by foot or boat, the gorge is the gateway to the Finnmarkvidda plateau, a vast, unspoiled wilderness.

5. Svartisen is Norway’s second biggest glacier in, a huge mantle of ice between Salten and Helgeland. Engenbreen, a powder-blue tongue of the glacier, plunges almost into the water at Holandsfjord. You can admire it easily from a boat in the green meltwater fjord, though a glacier hike isn’t actually that difficult.